I have modded mine with pearloid pickgaurds and removed the woofers. The P pickups are wired to both of the outputs though. It doesn't degrade the signal if I still want to run stereo. I met billy several years ago and I have it autograph on the back of the control plates.

It is guaranteed to knock phones off the dresser! Yes, and luckily we figured out the phone was behind the dresser before we had AT&T swing by to tell us why we weren't getting a dial tone. But I digress...

The fit and finish is excellent with the exception of the chrome job on the bridge which looks like it was washed away a bit. But not really a deal-breaker. The Lava Red is really great I think.

In my initial time with it the key to me seems to be the woofer. Aside from its house-shaking capabilities that is really where you determine your tone.

I am (giddily) running both pickups discretely through a Pearce BC1 and it is really amazing what it can do.

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I'm sure others are waiting for theirs and I sincerely think you will be glad you got one.

Man, I hope you get it sooner than that! Hang in there, it's worth it.

The neck, while certainly chunkier than a Jazz, didn't give me any trouble. I would guess its comparable to a P but I don't own one for reference. I will say that I could feel some neck dive but only to a horizontal position. It feels pretty much like what it is... a rock machine! I think it's very comfortable but I'm also 6'2" tall. Maybe smaller hands might not enjoy the neck, I honestly don't know.

The action was factory set a little higher than I have my other basses (though very playable) and the intonation was pretty much dead on. I've tweaked the string hight a little but quite honestly I think you want the action a bit higher on this bass. You're not (likely) going to be slapping on it and the growly tone just makes you want to dig into it. The neck, bridge curvature and pickups were set fine.

The only complaint I have, like I mentioned above, is the chrome plating on the bridge that didn't take. Everything else is nice and shiny and the bridge looks weathered... oh well. I expect it does not represent the rest of the line and I'm content to live with it. It is a nice bridge (brass, pretty sure) with a fair bit of mass.

I have a question for the group.... how you do read the Yamaha serial number? It doesn't come up in their "Wizard" and I'm curious if this is #40. Or something else...

I GOT AN ATTITUDE!!!!
I bought the black one as I only like black basses. What a bass it is! It was all packaged nice and to my surprise it came with a case! And a quality case at that. Not a cheap cardboard case either it is well built. I'm impressed! I crack the case open and behold an indescribably beautiful bass. All I could say was "WOW WOW WOW". A masterpiece! I thought it was gonna come with a black pearloid pickguard but it was white. No biggie as I am gonna get one made for it. I open up a white folder that was in the case and see a Certificate Of Authenticity signed by Billy himself. Nice touch. I was almost afraid to pull the bass out of it's comfy case. But I did and I fell in love! Everything on this bass is top quality. I have no doubt it would survive a nuclear holocaust. Everything is so solid feeling. This is the most amazing feeling bass I ever felt. The neck is so nice. I can't believe people say the neck is uncomfortable and baseball bat like. What are they talking about? It's the most comfortable neck I have ever placed my hands on. Plays fast too! Neck dive is not an issue. I got a leather strap and can play next to vertical with no problems. I can't believe people get rid of this bass for so called neck dive. Lame! It was set up nicely from the factory. Pickups needed a slight tweaking but no big deal. Action was set nice and low like I like it. Intonation was spot on. The tone from this thing is killer! This bass will cave in peoples chest cavities. I love this bass! It's got balls. It's got looks. It demands respect. Show up to a gig with this and you got instant respect. Well worth the money IMO. It's great knowing I'm playing the same bass as Billy does gig after gig night after night. So you know it will stand the abuse. Here are the pics. Sorry for the poor lighting.{}{}{}{}{}{}

You know I have always had a curiosity about these basses. Really more from a builders perspective. Every time I see them I am reminded of "the Jetsons". But in a good way. It's like retro-60's-modern and that's a cool period. I'm dating myself. I'm not old enough to have vivid memories of the 1960's. But I do remember my parents 60's modern furniture of that time period, and that was a Jetson-ish deal.

My brother and I started using the Dimarzio Will Power middle pickups in our basses and those are head and shoulders the best passives I have ever heard. As a matter of fact, we use two (Double P) on our basses. I would post a pick of that one here. But I don't want to change the subject from what BassDonut started. So I'll just set in a link later.

Yamaha...Man they seem to be everywhere. Amps, Stereos, Guitars, ATV's, cycles... you name it. They even seem to be on all price ranges. From dirt cheap to higher-end. I used to own an acoustic Yamaha. But I also had two other acoustics and needed to sell one of them. It is sorely missed. The guy that bought it ( ironically from TalkBass) loves it. And he's obviously giving it more attention that I was.

In any regard, I'm looking forward to sampling one of these. As soon as I think to stop into a music store I'll hunt for one on the racks.

I would have to suspect that because the attitude has so much of Billy Sheehan all over it, that it's really more of a specialty bass not for everyone. I would have to think that the guys that own them would all have this uncanny similarity in playing styles, techniques and musical geners or any combination thereof. You know what I mean...the fret scalloping, the heavier neck, lighter body, very modern pickups and electronics...

I think if you lined up the owners of these, you'd find them to have some distinct similarities in how they play and possibly what music they play.

Still it's a very cool and unique bass. (That is at least from what I've seen and heard.) I could even say that there is no real comparison out there. It's not like comparing a Sadowsky Jazz bass, to a KDS jazz bass, to a high-end Fender Jazz. The Attitude really has no comparable to speak of. What a mystery that is...

I think if you lined up the owners of these, you'd find them to have some distinct similarities in how they play and possibly what music they play.

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Maybe, but I can tell you I'd be an exception... I can see why one would think that though. This bass has a lot of unique features. It's not like saying "most guys who own a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz probably play like Geddy".

The Attitude, like you said, is very much a reflection of Billy. As such, it's actually pretty logical when you break down the elements... but you put it all together and you have something that is unique.

To me, the thing that blows me away is that what the bass sounds like acoustically is exactly what you get when you add power. Transparency is probably one of the hardest things to come by and this bass has it.